10-Cent Prize, Not $5,000, Sparks Postal Investigation

Postal inspectors are investigating complaints from people who say they thought they had won a $5,000 cash prize from a cancer research group only to find they received a dime in return for a donation.

“We are in the fact-gathering stage at this point,” Tom McClure of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said today.

Watson & Hughey Co., a direct-mail firm in Alexandria, Va., sent letters soliciting participation in a fund-raising campaign on behalf of three cancer research organizations.

The Washington Post said one state official estimated that the solicitation went to 48 million households in the country but Jerry Watson, a partner in Watson & Hughey, said that number is exaggerated.

The letters state that the recipient has “won a cash prize in the $5,000 Sweepstakes” and ask for a voluntary contribution of $5, but closer reading reveals that the total value of the contest is $5,000, with a maximum individual award of $100 and a minimum of 10 cents.

“We have complaints where individuals have sent money in, made contributions and received back a dime prize,” McClure said.

Asked whether anyone had received a $100 award, McClure said, “When people get that kind of money back, they usually don’t complain.”

He said a dime prize falls into a gray area of the law, since it is a cash award.

The letters were sent on behalf of the Pacific West Cancer Fund of Seattle, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based Cancer Fund of America and Walker Cancer Research Institute of Edgewood, Md.